A story in The Hill today highlights America’s actuarial problem. At the moment, America has more “takers” than “makers” One way to solve the problem is to increase the number of potential makers as in making 12 million immigrants legal. In so doing, we may add to the surge in immediate demand while also increasing the potential number who can contribute to the system. Whether or not those numbers eventually work out favorably is determined by actuaries who are specialists in risk analysis.
Optimizing return on national resources is the end state for government and We the People. Paying attention to the ratio of population size to limited resource capacity is a critical indicator.
Resolving immigration uncertainty for millions of people adds stability and certainty such that economic outcomes can be determined. Given knowledge about the expected outcome, as a nation, we must determine the formula for economic sustainability and the system that will produce needed outcomes with a high degree of certainty.
Stories such as that by Elise Viebeck touch the surface of a much deeper challenge.
“Immigration reform could add millions under Obama health law
By Elise Viebeck - 01/26/13 06:00 AM ET
Comprehensive immigration reform could make millions of people suddenly eligible for assistance under President Obama's healthcare law, assuming a final deal paves the way for undocumented immigrants to receive papers.Illegal aliens are now prohibited from purchasing coverage through the Affordable Care Act's insurance exchanges, which will launch next year.
They are also ineligible for Medicaid under most circumstances, making the law's expansion of the program fruitless for people without documents.
Even young illegal immigrants with "deferred action" status, known as "DREAMers," cannot access the law's benefits.But the picture could change completely if Hispanic lawmakers get their wish — an overhaul of U.S. immigration policy that includes a path to legalization.
"We have to figure out a way in which [undocumented immigrants] incorporate themselves into the larger workforce, and into our society in general, and not be a burden," said Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), a leader in the immigration debate.
"Do we want them to go to the exchanges? Absolutely we do — if and when they don't have healthcare through their employer," he said.
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